Tips for safe use of technologies

Tips for safe use of technologies

We chat with Ramón Rodríguez, a professor from Seville, an expert in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and a speaker at our webinars on Internet security.
Given the great reception that teachers have given to technology, we asked Professor Rodríguez (@Profe_RamonRG) some questions about its use in the classroom.
How important are ICTs in education and how can we deal with them as teachers?
The world of education has changed a lot. Not so much in its essence, but in the enormous amount of resources, methods, and tools that we have at our disposal today. And within this range of possibilities is technology. 10 years ago it was difficult to see a computer in a classroom, now it is difficult to see a classroom without a computer, projector, screen, etc. At least for the teacher's use, because all that technology is taking longer to reach the students. However, every day more and more people are applying technology to a greater or lesser extent in their studies. A clear example of this occurred during confinement due to the pandemic, when thousands of students around the world had to adapt, overnight, to totally online education. Platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Google Classroom became the daily classroom where students received classes, watched videos, and completed projects and homework. And those tools that were gradually being introduced into education flooded us completely and are here to stay. The incredible effort made by the entire educational community to adapt as well as possible to this scenario is very much appreciated.
In today's education, ICTs play an important role, increasing every day, and teachers must be prepared and handle these types of devices and platforms with some skill. A lot of investment is still required by the administrations in several key areas. One of them is the training of teachers, as it is of little use to provide them with devices or to put these platforms at their service if they are not prepared, not only to learn how to handle them but also to know how to exploit them and get the most out of them. And then there is the provision, both of devices and infrastructure. For example, today many centers lack something as basic as a good Internet connection. That should come first.
Ramon Rodriguez

What should we keep in mind when we educate for a digital life?

The first thing we must understand is that our children's lives will be very digital. I explain. With regard to leisure, we see it very clearly: both to play and to interact with others, the digital plane is every day more decisive. Many of these interactions happen, for example, through social networks and the chats integrated into video games with which our children communicate with 

present life and in the future, technology is and will be fundamental, and we must, from now on, offer them the possibility of learning to handle it safely. I believe that it is very important to educate our children in the safe and responsible use of technology and social networks. In this, as in everything, it is better to prevent. It is important that, from a young age, they learn that technology is not only an instrument for leisure, but that it is, and should be, a useful and powerful tool to help them in their studies. In this important work, it is necessary for schools and families to go hand in hand and educate in the same sense since children will be the great beneficiaries and we will be training them for a healthy, safe, and responsible digital life.

 Some good and bad sites of using technology?

Technology has its lights, which are very obvious. It achieves an almost instantaneous motivating effect on children, attracts their interest, generates great interactivity, facilitates cooperation —especially in these times when cooperative work is so limited— and offers immediate feedback between students and teachers. It also enables students to develop initiatives that perhaps in other formats would be more difficult to carry out. It allows them to exploit their creativity without limits, it fosters their personal autonomy, it greatly enriches their personal learning environment… and we could still go on listing advantages.

But technologies also have shadows that, as adults, it is convenient for us to know and that children must also learn to detect. They are a major source of distraction that can waste a lot of time that they should dedicate to their work. The ease of access to all kinds of information, also erroneous or misleading, can lead them to mislearn some content. They can generate differences between students because some students will be able to access this technology at home and others will not. With its use, we may be opening, unwittingly, a small door to dehumanization if children find digital a more comfortable environment than in person and prefer to isolate themselves in its technology. Not to mention social networks, which have their benefits, but also their dangers. It is more than necessary to educate our children in the responsible and safe use of these so that, when the time comes to use them, they know how to act with caution and can enjoy them and get the most out of them without having to regret any bad action.

We must be very careful to use technology so that we attract all the lights that we have talked about, but avoid the shadows.

What would be the keys to keeping children in a safe digital environment?

I designed, some years ago, a decalogue, netiquette, with a series of guidelines that can serve to introduce children to technology and prepare them for their future use of social networks in a safe and responsible way. I present it to you:
You must always maintain privacy. Do not provide data without thinking.
Never publish personal data (telephone, address, etc.).
A photo you post on the Internet is no longer yours. You will never know the use that another can give it.
You must always communicate with respect and education. Also, try to write well, respect the rules of spelling and take care of the writing.
Be very careful what you post about someone else
Pay close attention when uploading or sharing material online (files, photos, videos, etc.)
Don't be obsessed with technology or social media: make it a complement to your daily activities, but not a way of life.

And as a parent ... what advice could you give us?

There is a moment that worries me a lot, and it is when the mobile reaches the hands of a child for the first time. Every day children are allowed to use devices with Internet access (tablets, smartwatches, video game consoles, etc.) beforehand. It is very dangerous, because they may not be prepared for the entire universe that is placed in front of them with just a click or a press of the finger. We have already seen that technology brings many benefits, but it also carries risks that we must minimize as much as possible. I think that the mobile should not be considered a gift, rather a responsibility. Before giving a mobile phone to a child, we should ask ourselves if they really need to have it and if they are prepared to use it safely and responsibly. Our duty as adults is to educate them on this technology, prevent potential problems, and make sure they are aware of the responsibility they are assuming. Contracts can be used that state in writing the rules that we want them to respect, rules that children have participated in and that they commit to uphold. Once signed by them, we will put the contract in a visible place so that they can review it assiduously and internalize the rules until they are part, naturally, of their way of proceeding with this technology

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other people. But, in addition, technology is increasingly present in their lives as students. More and more centers have definitively incorporated this type of platform into their daily educational work. We cannot know what our children will work in the future, since there will undoubtedly be jobs that do not exist today, but I am convinced that, to exercise their profession, they will need the use of technology. That is to say, both in their